It was difficult for Hermione to keep her thoughts on the lesson. Ginny had to poke her several times during Charms class, which was their first class that day. Luckily enough, after several words from Professor Flitwick, who reminded them about the exams, a usual turmoil returned to the classroom, and the teacher could not really control the crowd, so he probably did not even notice Hermione's getting distracted.
"I still believe something's wrong with you, Hermione," said Ginny, a frown on her face, making use of the fact Flitwick was not looking. "You've always been a good student, and, blimey, I don't think you've ever got so distracted before. What, is it about Snape? You didn't get back until late at night, right? What were you two talking about?"
There was no way Hermione could tell Ginny all the truth, however, lying to her did not seem to be the greatest idea, either, therefore she realised she needed to come up with a solution somewhere in between.
"No, it's nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "He just... wanted to thank me, that's all. We... talked a lot."
"An awful lot, it seems," Ginny winced. "I mean... it's not like the two of you have anything to talk about, right?"
Hermione did not really know why she felt some kind of slight irritation when she heard Ginny's words, however, she managed to contain her emotions. Maybe she had really grown a little bit too fond of Snape; she knew one thing, though: that she could not put him above her friendship, and right now, Ginny was her best friend.
She treasured Ron's sister more than anyone else right now. Like any Gryffindor, she valued friendship – but it made her think about her decision to keep secrets from her friend once again. Should she not tell her the truth...?
Of course, she should – but right now was not the best time. Especially when there were so many other students in the classroom. No, she first needed to get ready for the conversation. Besides, there were other factors she needed to take under consideration, not only her being prepared or not – after all, she did not want to make Ginny scared or angry.
"It turned out that we did," answered Hermione with a soft smile. "Well, you see, he just wanted to know why I did that for him, he'd noticed that I've never really liked him... but that was quite obvious, wasn't it."
"Just... just don't get yourself into any trouble, 'Mione, alright?" Ginny gave Hermione's hand a squeeze, then returned to the lesson.
After this conversation, Hermione found it much easier to get focused. However, it did not mean that she was not terrified at the sole thought that she would meet Severus Snape in the afternoon. She was almost certain he was going to tease her all he could, he was just that type of person. Or he was going to act in a completely different way – coldly pretending he did not even notice her presence.
Hermione wondered what a man like Severus could feel. Usually he would not let even one emotion slip onto his face, at least as long as he could control himself. Then would he not tease himself by teasing her, too?
The next lesson was Transfiguration, so she needed to get a grip, and somehow she managed to focus once again. It would seem that the more she tried, the better effects she could get. She was not a stupid girl – her logic could win against the flames when she had been just in her first year, then why would a man be able to distract her so much?
By the time the bell rang, she had already managed to get her composure back, and Ginny smiled proudly as Professor McGonagall awarded her friend with five points for great results of her work during that class.
"See? You were just stressed," said Ginny energetically as they walked down the corridor, heading to the Great Hall. "You shouldn't have, it's obvious you had a year gap so you need to get used to certain things once again, but you've always been a great student, and the fact you haven't attended school for a year isn't going to change that. Maybe the teachers won't be too understanding, since they keep talking about the N.E.W.T.s, but that's okay. You don't need their understanding to get back to the life you've known."
Ginny's happy chatter made Hermione smile. As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, she stopped talking as she shared the casserole with her friend. Hermione used this moment to ask a question she had been wanting to ask for a while.
"Why did Snape resign from his position as a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
Ginny put one half of the casserole on Hermione's plate, then raised her eyes to look up at her.
"No idea," she replied, "but I've heard that it... it wasn't really his choice. You see, after all that's happened, McGonagall started having the same worries Dumbledore once had. That Snape's going to feel... well... tempted."
"But hasn't he proved that he's not a Death Eater anymore?" Hermione frowned. "One would think they should've gained some more trust for him."
"It's not that easy, 'Mione, and you should know that," answered Ginny resolutely. "Prejudices do exist, even though our lives would be so much easier without them. But he's shown his worst side to us, so why would anyone trust him now, even though he's actually saved us? Not many people realise what actually happened back then, during the battle, you see, the turmoil was terrible, and I doubt anyone is fully informed. While you, Harry and Ron were doing your job, everyone else was fighting here, and it got all of their attention. I guess you're the only one who's got the most important facts here."
This time, Hermione did not answer. Ginny was right; things that were obvious to her, remained completely secret to the majority of the students at Hogwarts. Even the teachers, even the Headmistress herself was not aware of everything that had happened.
It was harder to get back to normal life than she had thought. Maybe Ron and Harry were right; it would have been easier to stay at home. After all they had achieved they would all be accepted to the Ministry. Hermione had heard that Kingsley, who had been chosen as a temporary Minister, had offered the boys to join the Aurors' squad. She had been asked whether she had been interested, too, but she had denied.
An Auror's job was not one for her. While she did consider working for the Ministry, she did not really want to be a hunter. Yes, she had been participating in the majority of Harry's adventures, but it did not mean she would like to do it for living.
"I'm going to see Luna after our classes," said Ginny at some point. "We're going to take advantage of the last nice days and have some fun outdoors. There's not much studying as of yet, so we can just play as well. Would you like to join?"
That was when Hermione realised she had not told Ginny about the detention, and she wondered if she should – after all, she could tell her she would be going to the library to study... No. No more lying to her friend. She was not a coward to hide everything from her best friend, even though the truth was not like she would like it to be.
"Sorry, Gin, I got a detention," she mumbled.
"Detention!" repeated Ginny, apparently surprised. "What? Why? You haven't done anything wrong, right? You didn't even get enough time to..."
"From Snape," Hermione cut in and rolled her eyes. "You see, I... I used wrong words while talking to him. You know what he can be like, and I... forgot myself for a while, but it was enough to get myself a detention."
"But that's not fair!" protested Ginny. "We'll be seeing him after the break, maybe you could talk to him and convince him...?"
"I guess talking to him when I come to him in the evening will be a better idea," replied Hermione as she took a bite just to get herself some time to think. "He told me it's going to be a month's detention, so I need to be careful and find a way to ask him to stop after tonight... or at least in a couple of days."
"What a..." started Ginny, but a tall figure approached them and a shadow was cast upon their faces which made her stop.
"Well, well, one would think Miss Weasley wants a detention, too," they heard Snape's singsong voice. He was, without doubt, quite amused. "Not this time, Miss Weasley, but if you won't hold your tongue, I will give you this pleasure."
Ginny's face turned completely red, almost as red as her hair, but she locked her lips, knowing that any wrong word could mean facing some consequences, and she definitely did not want to earn a month's detention. After all, she was the Captain of the team – she needed her evenings free, otherwise they would lose the Cup.
Having looked at Ginny's face, Hermione pursed her lips, clenching her hands on the robe on her lap. It was obvious Snape was trying to provoke her, but she would not let him do that. She was better than that.
"Is there anything we could help you with, Professor?" she asked after a moment, seeing that Snape had not left yet. The longer he was there, the less secure she felt – but it was a good training before the Potion class.
Snape raised one of his brows as he turned his face to look at Hermione.
"Are you trying to get yourself another detention, Granger, or are you just insolent by nature?" he asked, making Hermione's cheeks burn with a dark blush. "Well, I heard your little chat with Miss Weasley as I was passing by, and I guess it will be better if I give you my answer now without making you wait pointlessly."
The way Snape said that made Hermione feel sick, as if some giant hand gripped her stomach and squeezed it hard. She, however, did not let him see that, even though she was pretty sure her face did turn a little bit pale.
"What do you mean, sir?" she asked as politely as she could in this situation; her voice, though, trembled slightly as she formed those words.
"You are not going to get a shorter detention just because you asked for it, Granger," he said, his voice cold and emotionless as always. "This is a lesson you must learn. Your name does not change anything. Your connection to the Boy Who Lived does not change anything. You broke the rules, and here's your punishment. I thought Gryffindors were courageous – do you really lack courage to face me every evening for the next month?"
As he stopped talking, he was staring right into Hermione's eyes. Despite his voice being so deprived of any emotion, his glance was not, and at that very moment Hermione was glad Ginny could not see what she could see.
It was a dare. Right now, he really wanted her answer. Was she a little, scared girl who would run away? Or was she a mature woman who could look at his face even after having done something they should have never done? Did she have enough courage in her heart, or would she turn out to be just another coward?
She had once proved to be brave – back then, when she had sneaked out of the castle and saved his life. Then why would she not do that once again? It was nothing difficult. If she felt nothing for him, it should not be that hard... right?
"Why would I be?" she replied coldly.
To Snape, though, the message was simple: she had accepted his dare, and entered the dangerous game they had started playing the previous night. Right now, though, there was no turning back. And while she wanted to prove herself to be brave, to show she felt nothing for Severus, his point was to prove otherwise – that she, too, harboured some feelings for him, even though they both knew it was forbidden.
But did it not make the whole thing even more thrilling?
"I hope to see you later today," said Snape in his usual velvety voice, then marched away as Hermione watched him go.
There was some unusual silence around her, and she definitely did not like it; it meant that all of the students had been listening, and right now, it was obvious that the Prefect, the Hermione Granger had got into trouble before the semester had even started. It made her situation even more hopeless and she wished she had Harry and Ron with her. Because while she really enjoyed Ginny's presence, there was no-one else she trusted as much as her friends who had decided not to come to Hogwarts that year.
"What on earth was that?" asked Ginny, frowning.
Hermione swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. Only now did she realise her body was trembling; in fact, she was much more nervous than she had thought until now. Even her head had begun to ache.
"Nothing," she muttered. "I thought he'd be more understanding after the happenings at the Shrieking Shack, but apparently... I was wrong. He's thankful, but it doesn't change the fact he simply doesn't like me."
"Stupid old bastard," growled Ginny, glaring at Snape who had just sat down at the High Table. "I hope he'd get bitten by a chimaera."
"Ginny!" Hermione scolded her friend mildly, but both of them soon burst out laughing.
However, Hermione could not help but feel something burning in her stomach. Of course, Snape did not like her. His feelings for her were much deeper, and much more disquieting. Someone should have known about that, maybe that way she could find a solution to this situation... but at the same time, she remembered her thoughts and feelings from the previous evening... how much she had wanted that kiss...
"Let's finish our lunch and get going," she said, feeling dizzy at the thought of entering a dungeon with a bunch of students while Snape was there. "We definitely don't want you, Gin, to get a detention, too, do we?"